SAO: Twisted Paths
by HellKing666
Summary: Do you ever think that if you had just been a better person in the slightest degree, things could be different? Well now I'm trapped in a death game, controlled by person in another country. I guess that is what I get for cheating my way into SAO, and check out my avatar... But will I be able to survive against the PK's or the monsters, and can I even trust my closest friends?
1. Prologue: Dude Looks Like a Lady!

**A/N: Time for another story, now, this will be a Co-ob with Mad Bobert and into another Self-Insert, only this time, neither of us will have knowledge of the events that are to transpire, that doesn't mean of course we won't help on certain events.**

**We will be taking pieces from both the anime and translated novel, so it is fair to both parties in a way, but it won't matter most of the time since we will be writing OC scenes involving us in the game alone.**

**Now, this will also be a unique fanfic since I am writing about gender bending for the first time, but, if you want details, read on, and enjoy.**

* * *

**Chapter One: Dude Looks Like a Lady!**

Do you ever think that if you had just been a better person in the slightest degree, that Karma wouldn't be a total bitch?

Well, I think that every day now, I never did anything too bad, download a pirated movie, hacked a few games for my enjoyment, even in this case just took a copy of a game only to be released into Japan, an absolute cybercriminal, but to I deserve this? I guess I was asking for problems on the account of a sensitive piece of software being copied, but...

Yeah, Karma's a bitch, as am I.

* * *

I had woken up at a ridiculous time in the morning but was still as excited as a kid in a candy shop, why you might ask? Because of a simple thing called Sword Art Online, the first ever VRMMORPG and I was play it.

Now, naturally with such a game you would think I would be shouting it over the rooftops, well, no, not unless I have a fetish for handcuffs.

It isn't technically legal, I mean, people download things over the net all the time, why should this be different?

…

Okay, it was only meant to be released in Japan and I could be held accountable for international theft, but hey, its motherfucking SAO, why not?

I am currently chatting to my friend, Robert, over the video cam in my laptop. Quick explanation, Robert is my partner in crime, both figuratively and literally, I get through the difficult programs in anything we do, and he covers my tracks, I like to refer to ourselves as the soldier and the ninja due to this, with my heavy hit hard tactics and his subtle and quick approach, we have never gotten so much as a visit from the law.

Ying and Yang and all that.

Robert had been one of the lucky ones, one of the 1000 beta testers and he was twelfth highest level out of them all, it wasn't a competition, but he kept track himself anyway.

The game was brilliant from what he described, and it had better be, since it uses NerveGear, and from such a great man as Kayaba Akihiko, and right now we were talking about it.

"Okay then, just look for the NPC with the orange stand and we'll meet up," Robert told me as he got out his NerveGear helmet, it looked pretty cool with the visor and all and I was going to love playing it with him.

"So, pigs and rats and junk at the beginning? Typical of the regular RPG, just to check, it doesn't really hurt, does it?"

Robert shakes his head at me, "You always had a problem with things like that, no, it is only a game, if people started giving a device which could actually make you feel like you got ripped in half then the NerveGear would have been bankrupt"

I winced slightly, yeah, as excited as I was, I hate pain.

"Are you okay over there by the way, it's almost four AM right?"

I gave a lopsided grin, "Are you kidding? Miss the grand opening of this with my best buddy, hell no; I would miss my grandmothers wedding for this"

"And risk the wrath of your mum?"

I winched again, "Well... I would have second thoughts then"

A throaty chuckle came from Robert, "So, playing as a trans again?"

Yeah, laugh it up, I usually play as a girl in games, so? I like the experience, plus, if I am playing a VR, with the body practically my own, *wink* *wink*

"Pervert" Robert muttered,

"Oh, did I say that out loud?" I asked in mock innocence, yeah, you are jealous,

"Just go get set up, I'll see you in game." he replied before the screen blinked out showing he was no longer connected to the call.

"And so, time to connect" I mumble as I took out my own little piece of headgear, after starting the program of it on my computer, I put on the equipment, and lay down on my bed,

"I'm going global" I said as a parting phrase, well, second to last anyway,

"Link start" I say before closing my eyes, and the world turned white.

* * *

Five blue circles burst onto the screen one after another, before turning green showing the that the all my senses were linked. Logging in with the username and password Robert provided and selecting the English language I looked at the character creation screen, my body had been turned into a cursor for the task,

Before I did my appearance, I got the boring stuff out of the way. Skills. The way this game worked is that you pick five skills to start with and then unlocked more skill slots from side quests that randomly appeared on floors.

My starter skills I picked were Two Handed Assault Spear, Heavy Metal Equipment, Extended Weight Limit, Sprint, and, hey, might as well live it up with Cooking.

"Okay then, time to get this shit started, now, should I be an H-Cup, or a more modest D-Cup?" I said as I looked through the numerous options available,

Okay, I have a breast fetish, I admit it.

I decided on a E before moving onto the next step, Hair. I finally decided on fiery red hair that reached my hips, which were slightly wide with a trim stomach, my legs and arms would be muscular, but only slightly, don't want to look like a macho chick.

Clothing was next, I decided on a simple blouse with trimmings of blue and gold, I had some long fit tight trousers with a gold colour as well, I had two red hair bands treated in my locks as well on either side of my head.

My face was tidy and narrow, my cheeks were nicely round and I decided on envy green eyes to complete the look, as I looked at my avatar's body I thought of an important question.

"Would loving this body be narcissism, or incest?" I took a thoughtful pose, as much as I could as a cursor anyway,

"And would I be heterosexual, or a lesbian when I pick up chicks in the game?" I tilted my 'head' the other way to think,

"Some questions to consider on the chatboard after I'm done" I saw, typing in my characters name, Charlie. I then finished off by putting my 'hand' over the accept icon.

A flash of light later, and I am standing up, I wait a fes seconds, listening to the excited chatter among the other players, before opening my eyes.

Wow.

"Wow..." I cough slightly, my voice was a female pitch now, I didn't think to edit that, luckily, it was a decent tone, just deep enough to not be a squeaky annoying pitch, like a sultry accent on it.

Cool.

I then take in my surroundings, it was a large plaza, beautifully decorated with crowds of people randomly appearing in flashes of blue light, Taking a step forward, I instantly tripped over my own legs and fell flat on my face.

I guess it would take some time to get used to my legs.

"Do you need any help?" I looked up at the sound of a male voice to see a dark skinned man who towered above the rest of the people in the area. His hair covering his head and he had a large axe on his back.

Accepting his help, I got back up blushing from embarrassment . "Its easy enough to walk on this, just have to get used to your new body for a few seconds" the man instructed. Taking a deep breath I took a step forward.

And managed to stay upright, phew.

"See it just takes practice," the man said with a smile. "Soon you will be running around here with the best of them," he finished. As he said that a dark haired man ran past him, knocking into me and sending us both to the floor.

Twice in one day? Really? It hasn't even been 5 minutes ingame yet.

I looked down my bountiful valley to see a black haired mop of a man between them.

"Enjoying the feel?" I asked, regaining my cockiness,

The guy blushes up a storm before he quickly jumps up and runs off.

"At least buy me dinner first..." I muttered, before the same hand that helped me before came into view.

I grasped the giants hand, and got pulled off the ground again, to be greeted by his face breaking out in a grin,

"Still need some practice" he laughs before giving me a salute, "I'll be leaving you alone miss, good luck with the game"

He walked away, and I couldn't help but feel that whoever gets that guy mad might be very sorry.

Was that his natural height?...

Nah, no one can be that freakishly tall.

I went on my way, keeping an eye out for a orange stand. The street was crowded with sounds of laughter and people moving around gleefully examining items for sale and chatting with friends. There were stands selling everything from swords and armor to chairs.

Finally reaching the end of the street, I was saw the a NPC shopkeeper trying to sell oranges. The entire stand was orange in colour and the NPC had orange hair.

…

Well thats original.

Looking to the side, I saw another player begging a female player to join his party, with the fact he was begging, it was obvious he wasn't succeeding, as the girl was just basking in the attention.

Obviously a male player, the only thing I hate about some other trans is that they get a hard on from making other males flip through hoops for them.

Looking around for Robert I couldn't see him anywhere.

Damn, he was probably going to go ninja on my-

"Hello!"

HOLY SHIT!

I stumbled back in shock, my unskilled use of controlling my avatar making me fall to the ground for the third time that day.

"What is with me and falling flat on my ass right now?"

"Karma?" suggested Robert, he then stuck his arm out to lift me up, and I wondered if any women would show me concern in any respect here, and better help offered from a blond bombshell and not a dull guy.

"You know, I bet any of the men here could tell you're not a girl instantly," Robert snarked. "I doubt they are stupid enough not to realise." I was speaking out loud again.

At that moment a overly heroic looking man ran towards me. "JOIN MY PARTY!" he all but screamed me. "YOU SO HOT!" he continued, not bothering to hide the fact he was staring at my chest, here is a hint, the more handsome or beautiful an avatar is, the more likely it is a guy who has enough craters to match the moon.

Looking at Robert, I saw his face was covered in disbelief at the stupidity of his gender.

"Did you hear that Lucian?" I mock asked him while using his username, "This guy thinks I am one hot girl" I smiled in a wicked way, I loved it when I proved him wrong.

"PLEASE!" He then bowed deep into the ground, me and Robert hightailed it before he could look up,

"How did you sneak up on me like that?" I asked him once we were at a safe distance, "I mean, I know you are sneaky but you just walked in front of me and I didn't see anything until you spoke"

"I picked the hiding skill, it is a usefull to invest in if you want to ambush something"

Looking at him I saw he had a dark brown cloak on, with a hood obstructing his face from view, casting it into shadows. He had a longish dagger on his hip, hiding very well from view under his cloak.

"How did you get weapon and armor!" I asked excitedly, wondering how he had it since I didn't have anything on me when I logged in.

"Did you check your inventory?" he asked, an eyebrow raised under his hood.

Chuckling nervously, I shook my head.

"Why don't you do that then?" he questioned. I stood there for a few more seconds before he sighed and demonstrated how it worked.

I found I had in my inventory a wooden spear with a sharp stone tip and a set of weak looking chainmail. Equipping it I looked down at myself. I could feel the weight of it on me. It was a metallic but not that nice looking, the metal links were a bit rusted and it didn't look like it would offer the best protection.

"How did you get a cloak then? It doesn't look like a starting item?" I asked him. "Oh this?" he replied. "I got it from this NPC in the park. Not many people buy it since it offers little to no protection but I like it since is does not decrease my movement speed at all" he finished.

"You always were the shy one" I teased, He punched me lightly in the shoulder for my comment and we walked on through the crowds.

* * *

After a few more minutes and several male players begging for me to join their party, we arrived at the city limits.

The Gates opened showing a massive open field, with trees and mountains in the distance.

"All right!" I yelled before running towards the fields excitedly, my spear in my hand. I heard Roberts voice in the background yelling something to me, but I ignored it wanting to reach combat faster.

Then I fell

The sudden loss of ground beneath me made me lose my footing as I tumbled down the stairs towards the grasslands below. I felt each and every one of the stairs hitting my body until I hit the bottom with a thud.

Groaning I pushed myself of the ground. Looking around I saw Robert casually walking down the stairs. "I warned you," he said with a large smile on his face.

"Shut up," I replied as I dusted myself off from my fourth encounter with the ground that day.

"Hey wait," He called to me, turning around I caught a small potion he threw me. "You're on half HP from your small tumble" He told me, laughing at my expense,

"Really?" I looked up to see a health bar, now half full,

"Well that's perfect" I said as I picked myself up, "I can just imagine it, I trip at the last moment in the fight and I die that way, perfect"

"Ah you respawn after a few minutes, but lose half your money"

"Still, not in a hurry to kick the bucket" I said as I turned back to the scenery, "Even if it is temporary"

We stood in silence for a few seconds.

"It is really beautiful" I mutter as I looked slowly around,

"Yep" There is my man Robert, a man of few words.

I gulped down the health potion and then the empty bottle disappeared in a white light, "That encourages litter bugs you know"

"Well, we are going to be endangering some species so I think we don't have to worry about littering"

Heading further into the field, we saw a Boar. "Go ahead" Robert motioned. Nodding I ran it and stabbed at it with my spear, scraping it as it moved.

Trying again I missed as it charged at me. Moving out of the way just in time, I tried to stab at it again and missed for a third time. "Why can't I hit the damn thing!" I yelled.

As I yelled, the Boar did a surprising 180 before slamming into me. The impact send me flying back, hitting the dirt with a thud. I rolled on the ground in agony, "Right in the yolks" I breath out through clenched teeth.

Robert looked down on me, "Even if you could feel pain, you're a girl right now"

I blinked, "Oh right" I stood up from the ground.

Robert sighed. "Try using a Sword Skill, the system helps you with them. To do them you have to do the right motions. If you do it right the system will help you by locking onto the target and helping you hit. Try pulling back your spear and waiting a few seconds before attacking"

Doing what he suggested, I pulled back my spear and felt energy charging up in my arms. The tip of the spear glowed a deep blue, I saw the Boar drag its hoof through the dirt a few times before charging again, I readied myself, before letting loose with a forward thrust.

"Stab!" I shot forward with my spear head's light still shining and I gorged a hole into the pig's snout.

The thing twitched for a few seconds before it fell to pieces, the blue polygons releasing into the air.

A little square appeared in front of me showing my earnings from defeating the Boar, ecstatic that I had beaten it finally, I fist pumped the air only to have my excitement ruined by Robert.

"Well done, you killed a pig." he bluntly told me.

Looking at him annoyed, I said "It was my first blood, what you are looking at is the start of a champion"

"A cross dressing champion" He replied coolly,

"What, do you want me to prove I'm a girl?" I asked him, moving my hands to my chest as if to take off my armour.

He sighed, "Act like that and I would think you're interested in men," he said with a smirk

"You wish" I said back,

I then looked around, "Now it's time to bring home the bacon" I said, "Let's hunt some more, I want to get to level five before we have to leave"

"Let me show you how it's done," Robert said with a evil smirk before drawing his dagger and holding it in a reverse grip.

Sprinting to a pig that was closest, a small dark aura covered his blade. As he got closer he swung his arm out, the sword skill activating and increasing his movement speed towards his target.

He kept moving till he was on the other side of the boar, before sheathing his dagger and walking back. "Hey the Boar's still alive you know?" I yelled at him, as a red line slowly grew around the boar's neck. After a few seconds the line met up with itself and the boars head fell towards the ground before its body disintegrated.

"Wha!?" I looked at the place where the Boar used to be, and at Robert.

"There is no way you are only level 1!" I shouted at him, he just gave a booming laugh and rushed to the next target,

I was not going to be outdone, so I went to my next target too, and began stabbing.

* * *

"You know the best thing about this NerveGear deal?"

"What?" asks Robert as he cleans his dagger pointlessly,

"The fact that I can do all this badass stuff, yet I won't get tired or hurt, I don't know why I hadn't tried it earlier"

"You heard a rumour that it makes your brain dumber"

"Hey! I had exams, I couldn't risk it"

"Yeah, besides, you are dumb enough on your own"

"Fuck you"

It was now sunset, after six hard core hours or grinding, we had both reached level 3, I loved the experience. I could feel the fight happening and the sun on my skin. A slight breeze had picked up and I was surprised at how lifelike the game was.

"How about a quick duel" Robert suddenly asked,

I smiled, "The classic Heavy vs Quick again huh?"

"Yep" replied Robert with a knowing smile, bringing up his menu and pressing the Duel challenge button.

"Your on!" I said as I took a fight stance against him, adrenaline pumping.

He smiled, as I accepted the challenge, in half loss mode

Looking at each other for a moment, not moving as the 60 second countdown ended, I charged.

"Attacking from the front again I see" He commented, before he ducked under my thrust and swiped my feet out from under me with his foot, losing my footing I hit the ground with a thud as he jumped back, taunting me.

Jumping back onto my feet, I swung the side of my spear towards him, the reach of the weapon giving me an advantage, stopping him from countering.

Deflecting the attack, Robert leapt towards me with his knife in a reverse grip, swinging at me. Blocking at the last moment due to the speed of the attack, I used the spear to push him backwards.

I then twist my weapon to the side to hit him in the ribs with the blunt side of the shaft, he let out a gasp and I immediately followed up by using the point in a downwards swing in a half circle arch towards his head.

He dodged out of the way, the edge of the spear hitting the ground. He grabbed my spear and kicked me in the stomach, away from my weapon and disarming me. He then prepared to charge up an attack, the light around his knife being absorbed into the aura, but before he could use it he was tackled by a red blur.

I blinked a few times, looking at the scene.

"Huh?" was the only sound I could make, the sudden interference from a random stranger.

I stared at the man who had come out of nowhere before realising the situation.

"Yes! You finally fell to the ground instead of me!" I cheered, while doing a little dance, but I was on the ground so it looked more like a wriggle.

Both of the men stopped and turned to look at my wriggly dance. Roberts face staring at me in amusement and the other man blushing from the shaking my body was doing.

Yeah, complete tease.

"Grow up Charlie," Robert called over to me. "You're embarrassing yourself."

Getting to my feet at the same time as Robert, we both look at the intruder, who was still staring at me in shock. Hearing the sound of footsteps, I turned around and saw the man who had run into me earlier.

"Hey! You're that guy who groped me earlier!" I yelled at him, the said molster then went red,

"It-it was an accident!" was all he managed to say before the other guy looked at him.

"Kirito, You've been groping random women?" was all he could say before Robert burst out laughing.

"I knew those days of you playing a woman was going to bite you in the ass one day" he managed to say between chuckles, it was eligible to me, but the other two didn't hear him,

"Shut up Lucian" I grumbled, I went over to my spear and picked it up, "And you!" I pointed to the red head guy, "You just ruined our duel, I was about to turn the tables on him"

"B-but he was going to hurt you" He tried to defend himself.

"It was a Duel, he was meant to hurt me" At the guys clueless look I sighed but before I could explain the other guy, Kirito started to explain,

"Duels are basically a player vs player fight that takes place if both people agree. There are three types, Total health mode, Half health Mode and First strike mode. The way you win depends on the type of duel"

Realising what he had done, he then turned to me and started to speak very fast, "Hi I'm Klein Im 22 and single and looking for a girlfriend and I'm sorry I stopped your fight!"

At this point, Robert had started rolling on the floor laughing, my eye twitched,

"Um, that is... sweet to hear, but I don't think that it would be a good idea"

Klein looked down sadly but dropped the subject.

"Anyway," Kirito began, "I'm Kirito, We were looking for some Boar when we saw your fight." he explained,

Klein looked excited for a moment but then his stomach growled. "I would love to come, but I have a pizza waiting to be delivered," he said before bringing up the menu.

Robert looked at Kirito for a second, bother pointing at him. "I remember you from a floor boss fight in Beta,"

Kirito looked at him and nodded his head and was about to reply, when Klein interrupted. "Hey, where is the logout button?"

Kirito looked at Klein before bringing up his own menu, "Its right here at the bottom of the menu..." He trailed off as the he spotted the missing option from the the list.

"See? Not there" says Klein, I took out my own menu as well, sure enough, it wasn't there either.

"That can't be right, Lucian, you said there was hardly any bugs or glitches, right?"

Robert nods, Klein then says, "Well, its the first day out of Beta, its bound to have a few bugs"

He cracks a smile, "Hehe, I'm sure the server people are freaking out"

"Pretty soon, you will be too" said Kirito,

"Eh?" he enquiries back,

Kirito points to the clock, "Its 5:25 pm"

As Klein adopted a horror filled expression, I did the math in my head, if it was 4 am back home, and six hours had passed...

...

"My teriyaki mayo pizza and ginger ale!/Fuck! My mums is going to kill me!"

We then stopped screaming slightly and looked at each other,

"What the heck is teriyaki mayo pizza?/You're worried about your mum?"

The two others of our group ignored our questions however.

"Just hurry up and call the game master" both of them say at the same time, they blinked and looked at each other,

Klein then did a quick check, "I just did, but nothings happening"

I was starting to get a bit worried, I started calling the game master as well.

Nothing.

"R-Robert?" the said man turned to me, he didn't mind how I slipped up with his name "there must be a backdoor or something out of here right, you know, like another way to log out?"

He shook his head after a few seconds of silence, "No, the only way there is to log out is through the menu, nothing else"

"But thats nuts!" Klein hollered, "There has to be some other way"

He then started to jump on the spot, throwing different poses while shouting a bunch of words to try and escape, anywhere else and at another time it would have seemed comical, but the beautiful seeming sunset seemed to only be a quickly darkening landscape.

"I told you" Robert continues slightly annoyed but containing none of his original ire, "the only option there has ever been was through the menu, no emergency logouts had been made either in the manual, it doesn't exist"

"You're, kidding right?" asks Klein,

"When it comes to Robert, he doesn't kid when it matters" I say, I was practically glaring at my menu, waiting for some detail to pop into view and tell me its all right.

"I know! I'll just rip the NerveGear off my head!" he then grasped at an invisible device above his head and tried to pull it off.

"I told you idiot, there is no way, trying to take the NerveGear off is like trying to move in your dreams and in full control, only when you are using NerveGear, it is more like a coma, completely unresponsive"

"So, we have to wait till they fix the bug?" asks Klein, I flinched, if it is anything for how long I tried to fix my television last summer...

"Or is someone from the real world removes the NerveGear" chips in Kirito.

"But I live alone..." Klein intones, "What about you guys?"

"My family should have seen me lying on the bed right now, knowing mum, she'll want to consult a doctor first before trying to remove it"

"My cousin is taking care of me, he isn't in much so it should be late in the evening at least" Robert says,

"I have a mum and a sister, so I should be noticed by dinnertime..." Kirito couldn't continue however, as Klein suddenly places his hands on Kirito's shoulders.

"H-how old is your sister?" he asks, suddenly looking a lot better.

"See?" I intone to Robert, "All he does is hit on anything with a skirt, nothing to do with me"

Robert however doesn't snipe back, he just stares out silently,

"GRH-AAAAAHHHHHH!" I looked back to see Klein had been kneed in the crotch and had fallen back, after struggling for a bit, he suddenly relaxes, "Oh, thats right, it doesn't hurt"

"Your perfect for each other" Robert mutters, I glare at him, but I see he was still thinking hard about the situation.

"But don't you find this weird" Kirito asks Klein,

"Of course I do, its a bug" Klein replies back,

"It isn't just a bug, if we can't log out, it will pose a serious problem to the game so early on"

"I see, your right"

"If they wanted to, they could just shut down all the server, and log everyone out"

But where does that leave me I think desperately,

"But not even an announcement has been about it" Robert chips in, he looks into his mailbox, "nothing to say whenever or not they are fixing the problem, I don't even have any spam mail received since coming here"

"It sounds like" I say in fear, "that we are completely cut from the world"

At that moment, the clouds parted to show eerie light across the plains, and a tolling of a bell echoed all over the landscape, we looked in the direction of the city, before suddenly I felt the breeze of the air disappear and my eyes gave way to shining light.

* * *

As the light faded, I stumbled back in shock since I was back in the Plaza of the Starting Cit. Tripping over my own feet I fell onto my backside, only to hear a laugh from earlier. Getting onto my feet and turned around to see the giant man who had helped me up when I had logged in.

"Still falling over, I see?" he grinned as he offered his hand. Getting back on my feet, I tried to stop myself from running in embarrassment.

"Yeah, I still need to get used to this" I said, I then looked around, "Do you have any idea what is going on?"

"No idea," He replied, "By the way I never introduced myself. I'm Agil."

Offering his hand, I shook it "Names Charlie," I replied.

Looking around for Robert I couldn't spot him in the crowds of people. Thats when I noticed that the entire place was packed with players, some arguing with each other and others asking if why they are here, and if they can log out.

Looking around, something caught my eye as I looked up to see a flashing red sign with the words _Warning_ written on it. All of a sudden the sign seemed to multiply covering the sky checkering it with flashing signs showing the _warning _and _system announcement_.

Then a dark red liquid similar to blood in look started to ooze through the lines of the flashing signs. It fell down for a short amount of time, before it stopped in mid air and started to form together until the shape a of a giant man wearing a red cloak. Its hood covering a non existent face.

Mutterings cut through the crowd. Hearing the word Game Master, I knew it was one of the admins, but why was it missing a face?

"Players, I welcome you all to my world" it announced, sweeping its arms out. "My name is Kayaba Akihiko. Right now, I am the only person who can control this world." The now named Game Master continued in his calm and collected tone.

Staring at the creator of Sword Art Online in shock, I payed attention to his next words. "I think that most of you have discovered the fact that the Logout button has disappeared from the main menu. This is not a bug; it is all part of Sword Art Online system"

The muttering of the crowd increased. "You cannot log out of Sword Art Online yourself and no one on the outside can shut down or remove the Nervegear. Should this be attempted, the transmitter in the Nervegear will admit a powerful microwave destroying your brain and thus ending your life"

Silence reigned throughout the plaza waiting for Kayaba to continue."Is that possible?" I mutter to myself. "It could be" came the deep voice of Agil.

"To be a little more specific, disconnection from an outside source of electricity for ten minutes, being cut off from the system for more than two hours, or any attempt to: unlock, dismantle, or destroy the Nerve Gear. If any of these conditions are met, the brain destruction sequence will start."

"These conditions have been made known to the government and the public through mass-media in the outside world. On that note, there have been several cases where the relatives or friends have ignored the warnings and tried to forcefully remove the Nerve result regretfully 213 players have already exited this game, and the real world, forever""

Screams were heard around through the crowd and Agil behind me gasped

I looked on with shock, Japan might have got the message, but I live far away from there, if mum even gets the go ahead to take of my NerveGear.

"_You'll die, and become number 214, another prime picking of the fucking graveyard"_

I then pictured myself back with Robert, having the duel, if my spear had connected...

_An image of Robert on the ground, health bar at zero, bursting into pieces of warped light._

I gagged at the thought.

"Players, there is no need to worry about the bodies you left on the other side. As of this moment, all TV, radio, and Internet media are repeatedly reporting this situation; including the fact that there have been numerous deaths. The danger of having your Nerve Gear taken off has already all but disappeared. In a moment, using the two hours I have provided, all of you will be transported to hospitals or similar institutes and be given the best treatment. So you can relax... and concentrate on beating the game."

"Beat the game?" Agil questioned. "He tells us we die here we die in reality and then tells us to beat the game? My wife is out there," he says with a slight sob,

I would have felt sympathy, but I was drowned in my own misery to do so, my mum, dad, sister, brother, they will take of that NerveGear, thinking I will be all right.

"_Then you die the idiot"_

"Players, there is only one way to be freed from this game. As I have said before, you must get to the top of Aincrad, the one hundredth floor, and defeat the final boss that resides there. All players still alive at that time will be immediately logged out of the game. I give you all my word"

No sound was heard through the plaza as Kayaba announced this. Then mutters broke out through the crowd. "Clear all hundred floors? In two months the beta testers didn't even get to floor 10!" a voice yelled from the crowd.

"_Find Robert, he is the only way you are going to survive the fuck head!"_

The cold logic of that was shocking, I was really useless here.

People stood there staring in shock all around me, some crying and others staring in disbelief. One or two people were on their knees praying. Beat a MMO without dieing? That's almost impossible.

"Then I will show you evidence that this is the only reality. In your inventories, there will be a gift from me to all 9,787 of you. Please accept this," the calm tones of Kayaba broke through the crowds mutterings.

"_How can that asshole be so calm, he basically told us to go fuck ourselves in the middle of a fucking monster infested breeding ground, AND WE'RE THE MAIN COURSE!"_

Inner me was acting up again, always at times like this when I am panicking that I turn into a version of Sakura from Naruto, calm on the outside, violent on the in.

Opening my inventory and found all that was there was my armour and spear, along with a few dropped items from the Boar's I attacked, but nothing.

Suddenly light shone from every direction blinding me. As it dimmed down I looked around. The once impressive ban of fantasy warriors were replaced with fat teenagers, skinny nerds and the like. Most female avatars had turned into men as cries of shock came from several people as the girls they were trying to seduce turned into middle aged men.

"_As predicted, if this is our army to get to floor 100, then we might as well fuck ourselves with sword for the good they will do for us"_

The sound of sobbing came from behind me, turning around I saw a man, as tall as Agil crying behind me. "M...M...MY HAIR!" came a cry from him as I saw him lift his head, looking almost identical to his avatar but was missing all the hair on top of his head.

Face faulting for a second I realise this was just his way of coping with the sudden predicament and trying to shift his worries of being trapped inside a death game away from friends and family to something small and insignificant.

In his hand there was a mirror, looking around I discovered that all the other players also possessed a similar item themselves, but why didn't I get one?

Wait, I then realised I didn't have an official game, it was copied from Roberts original by his and my expertise, so most probably, Kayaba thought there would be only 10 000 here today, but in fact, there was 10 001.

Looking at that logic, everyone but me has been forced into their real life form, while I am still in my avatar because I had an illegal copy on a server that doesn't exist.

And so...

…

…

I'M STUCK AS A GIRL!?

"_No fucking way! That shit doesn't happen in life! It happens to guys who wish wrongly while a thick headed goddess is nearby, it happens to guys who are the wrong side of an alien experiment, it happens to guys who fall into cursed springs, it happens to people who are sucked into a game of life and..._

Death.

I fall to my knees.

"_This shit is actually happening..."_

"I am going to die..." I muttered,

"_We're going to fucking die, kick the bucket, and not temporary, not only that, people aren't going to be able to tell you died here, you are just a lousy kid from one hundred miles away, and will become a toadstool forever afterwards, and people that know you hear, was just a whiney, weak bitch with big boobs, and that is all she wrote"_

I fall on my side, not registering the screams from other players at their despair, I just curled up into a ball, and did what I haven't done since I was ten, seven years ago.

I cried.

* * *

"Hey? You ok?" a surprisingly calm voice I recognised whispered in my ear. "I know you lost your balls but no need to act like this."

I peeked out of my hands to look at Robert, not giving a smile, but still attempting humour.

"C'mon get up, we have to get going. This place is going to turn into a war zone soon when reality hits them." he continued helping me to my feet. "We need to leave."

I looked at him blankly before looking at the floor.

"Just go on without me, I'm useless, reckless, I'll just get you killed"

He shakes his head before I'm done talking, "Don't you remember that funny nickname of yours?"

I look back at him.

"The soldier and the ninja, you break in and hit hard, I pick up the pieces and clean the mess, we're a team, in real life and here, and I'll be damned if I leave you behind, what if your mother finds out?"

I gave a weak chuckle.

"No seriously that women scares me,"

I laugh a little harder.

"So?" He holds out his hand, "This better be the last time I pick you off the ground"

I remember how I grasped his hand without hesitation, and do you know what?

Ever since then, I have never fallen to the ground again.


	2. Chapter 1: Two's a Company

**Chapter Two: Twos a Company, Three Hundreds a Crowd**

**November 21th 2022**

It had been about two weeks since the death game started and the death rate was still rising. Over a thousand had died in the first week due to the panic from Kayaba's announcement. About t half of them had been suicides, while the rest were players who were killed by monsters. Almost a dozen were killed by other players.

_Robert (Lucian) POV_

Leaping to the side, I dodged the leaping spider that came from the thick branches that covered the sky. Slashing at it with my dagger, it dissolved. Hearing a hissing, I turned around to see another spider jumping at me.

Seconds before it hit me, it impaled from the air by Daniels new spear. "Thanks Buddy," I called to her as a pair of spiders scuttled down the worn trunk of a nearby tree. "Almost makes up for getting us into this mess."

"HEY! It was a bloody huge spider, normal bugs creep me enough, you just have to scream when that happens!"

"You are such a girl"

"DO YOU SEE THE BREASTS BUCKO!"

Lashing out with my dagger at another spider, I sliced off two of its legs, as it exploded a squirting sound echoed through the forest. Dodging out of the way, I was not fast enough as my hand got hit by a sticky substance, glueing it to a tree.

"SHIT!" I yell as I see a spider, bigger than the rest with a red stripe on its back crawling along the floor, a unnaturally bright green liquid dripping from two abnormally large fangs at its front.

Looking at my HP bar I see it going down slowly as my hand burned from the acidic web that was coating my hand.

"What the heck! That Kayaba is just really encouraging Acrophobia to faint isn't he?" Daniel muttered as she activated her basic stab skill, hitting the stronger spider.

Cutting through the web with my dagger in my free hand, I jumped the weakened enemy, stabbing my dagger into its back, finishing it off.

"Well at least they probably won't get any bigger" I tell her, looking around at the now silent clearing in the middle of the woods.

We were heading through the woods to try our hand at some of the tougher enemies in the mountains or the ruins which could be accessed by going through the forest. While it was possible to go to the mountains via the Lake, it was a much further walk from the direction of the town we were staying at.

We had bought some new gear from the town before we headed out. Daniel had got a spear with a quite high durability which he used to stab and slash with the edge of the point and some stronger armor. I bought several daggers since they broke quite easily. We also had grabbed several health potions, which I mainly had due to my lower defence.

"Yeah, you're right," she replied as she looked around. "I'm just glad that there is no more."

Suddenly movement caught my eye as a spider that easily dwarfed both of us moved into view. It was dark brown with two massive fangs on its head. its legs held its body of the ground as it stalked its way through the trees. It was easily eight times as big as the spiders we had been previously been fighting with.

"Shit," was all I could say as I saw the that its was a lvl 7 and called _The Spidersaurus_. Obviously some type of boss monster for this area.

"Run?" Daniel asked me. "Yep." Was all I could say before we both turned and fled the area, the spider chasing after us.

Turning sharply in hopes to lose the spiders attention, I saw light breaking between two trees ahead. "Over there!" I yelled to Daniel.

Sprinting through the shadowed maze of trees to the golden glow, I looked behind me to see Daniel failing to keep up with me, my higher agility pushing me further away from her strength based feminine character.

"If you don't keep up, I am not going to call you Daniel again till you get your balls back!" I yelled back at him, as the considerably faster spider slowly caught up with her.

Since this spider was faster than the smaller versions and Daniels was slow, there was a high chance he wouldn't make it to the gap in the trees before it caught her.

Acting quickly I used a tree as a springboard to leap over Daniel. landing on the spiders back, I started to slash the spiders leg repeatedly until I eventually managed to severe it. As the now unbalanced spider fell to the ground, I lept off its back and landed next to Daniel.

"Looks like I had to save your ass. Again." I grunted as we broke through the end of the forest into a wide open area that was cluttered with ruins. A overgrown stone pathway that twisted up the side of the mountains stood out over the green grass and a few packs of wolves walked around the grassy fields.

"Well sorry for not being able to catch up with you Road Runner," she grumbled as she started to walk along the overgrown path, longing to get away from the spider infested forest.

"Does that make you Wile E Coyote?" I asked with a grin, causing her to huff in response.

"Touche my friend, Touche" she mumbled,

"So what now?" Daniel asked me, I thought a bit, around here was a hidden dungeon that I had discovered during Beta. I had been exploring the zones for the last day when I came across it. I had decided to leave it alone due to the fact that it was the last day of the test.. If my theory is correct, it should have been untouched by anyone, and if so, thank the gods.

If only I had known that the stakes of this game would become a life or death I would of at least looked inside it.

But no turning back now, things were tense on floor one due to overcrowding, and the door to the boss had not been found yet. Since the door to the boss room had been changed since Beta, no one had any idea where it was. Even the Beta Testers were clueless.

This Sub-Dungeon on the other hand was never discovered, so it was a possible gold mine in loot, but also a death trap. It was in the back of a bear cave where a lvl 7 Brown Bear lived. Most people ignored it since it was a bit out of the way and most monsters were further into the mountains.

But it was also better than sitting around with our feet up, we needed the experience if we wanted to survive this. After we looted everything, we could report it to the other players with a clear mind.

Telling Daniel about it we started to head over to the cave with little to no fuss. After a few minutes of walking, we made it to the cave.

"So, Where is momma bear?" asked Daniel, I frowned slightly, the bear was scripted to charge out the cave as we approached.

Looking inside I saw no sign of the bear still, but saw the gloomy hole that had the short drop into another cave, from where you could enter the dungeon from climbing down some vines. I had tested the drop in beta but declined myself further exploration.

As I jumped down the hole, I decided not to question the avoided fight. Seconds later, Daniel followed me down. Heading over to the vines, I grabbed hold of one and used it as a rope to descend deeper into the cave. Waiting for Daniel I looked around the room. Set into the wall with a burning torch next to it, was human sized double door.

It was the made out a black shiny metal, large enough for a relatively tall man to walk through. The door split down the center, having symmetrical markings on each side, joining up to make strange pictures and flickering light of the torch making the metal shimmer in the dreary room.

However, the lock that normally kept the door closed was gone.

"This is not good..." I mutter, as I hurry towards it, the locks were to show when a door had been entered or not. Since it was gone it meant that someone had went through it, looks like we are getting leftovers... yet again.

But then again...

I knew that I couldn't have been a group of people, too many opinions on what to do, it would have got out to the public immediately. Most likely it could be that a group recently just stumbled in before us, or it is a solo player, and considering how draining and dangerous a dungeon can be, especially alone...

"We're in luck."

"How so?" Asked Daniel next to me, I felt my mouth twitch, and decided against saying that it was lucky that a person had died for our benefit, Daniel is not one for seeing advantages in others suffering.

"Just that we didn't have to face the bear upstairs, they might of taken it out after the Beta"

She nodded and I reached my hand forward to push open the door, a responded click was heard and it slowly opened, we both walked inside and squinted in the darkness.

It was a conjunction of many different openings among other things, split into several paths. This was not good, if we wanted to get anything useful. Soon though, we might need to split up, and that was suicide. We would have to take it slowly for now, with a mental game of spin the bottle, I chose the third path from the left.

"This way" I told Daniel, and activating my night vision skill, I trekked forward.

"Goddam rats!" Daniel screamed for the fifth time as another swarm of rats came rushing along the corridor. For some reason swarms of rats all at level two seemed to inhabit this dungeon. They also seem to love Daniel.

Lucky stamping on them seemed to kill the ridiculous weak creatures.

"This is really getting annoying, it has to be that comment from school of being a 'spec-y rat'" she grumbled, "I mean seriously, why do they go after me?"

"Maybe they are just as big perverts as you are?" I smiled, these rare jokes were what kept us from falling into depression here,

"Fuck you man!" she retorted back,

"No thanks, woman" I retorted,

Daniel then slumped briefly, "I just realised something"

I raised an eyebrow, "What?"

"What floor did the people in the Beta get to in the two months they were there?"

I thought a little, "Level eight, close to proceeding to nine but..."

At this she seemed to slump a little more, "In terms of calculation, that means 25 months, two years and one month, and every one will be fearing for their lives"

Even in the worst situations, Daniel had been able to bounce back, and she still does here, but with the life and death game, coupled with the fact that he is stuck as a girl, he gets depressed quite regularly.

"Heh, you know what would be a bitch? Waking up from this game and then being hit by a car, same principles apply to the real world remember," I mutter to him "If a human gets stabbed with a sword, here or back home, death still happens"

"I know, but still, death... is scary"

I looked at him with sympathy, missing the reckless, adrenaline junkie I knew. When I warned him about getting arrested for hacking into the numerous things over the years, he would always compliment the cells and how cosy they looked, now look at her, him, whatever,

Looking further down the tunnel, I see movement. "Hey I know what will cheer you up," I say with a smile forming on my face

"What?" She asks questionly

"Giant rats!" I say excitedly, point down the tunnel at the rat running towards us. It looked like the stereotype giant rat. A very big grey one.

Looking ahead Daniel got her spear ready, point facing towards the rat. As it got closer it leapt towards her, exposing its underbelly. With a quick forward jab, her spear impaled itself in its stomach. Crouching, she let the rat continue its jump over her head, pulling the spear out and letting it fly down the tunnel before dissolving into polygons.

"I hate rats..." she grumbled as she turned back to face me.

"Good job," I say as we continued deeper into the dark cave system. As we approach another fork on the path, a scream echoes through the cave.

Daniel rushed down the left pathway just as I shouted to him, "Hey wait!"

But it was too late. As Daniel went deeper into the corridor, he tripped a trap causing the way behind him cave in.

Jumping back just before I was crushed, panted a second at my close call with death.

"Hey are you ok?" I call out to her.

"Fuck me and my damn saving people thing" I heard her grumble,

I chuckled despite myself, "I'll find a way around, just don't get into trouble Harry Potter"

I didn't stay standing still for a second before running off down the next cave opening.

After several minutes of running and killing rats of all sizes I turned down another pathway and stopped stunned.

The once dark and dreary cave was now full of plants. One or two of them were producing light. Looking around in awe, I walked forward slowly.

The place had some sort of natural beauty to it. Vines on the ceiling and strange flows on the lower walls. The light was coming off a pale white flower, which seemed to glow.

Small firefly like bugs flew around the place. Deactivating my night vision skill, I walked deeper into the cave. Hearing a grunty snort sound I looked around a corner to see a brown boar, much healthier looking than the ones at the starting town. It was called a _Guardian Boar _and was lvl 6

Thats when it noticed me. With a squeal it charged towards me. Rolling out the way before it hit me, I spun around and slashed its back with my knife. With a grunt it charged at me again.

Hitting me square in the chest, I saw my HP bar deplete by a chunk, almost taking me down to the orange zone. Realising I couldn't risk being hit any more, I lunged at it with my knife.

Activating a sword skill, I streaked towards it in a flash of light. A orange gash appeared along its side, before it shattered like glass. Checking the XP I gained from the fight, I saw I had enough to level up again, reaching level 7. After I quickly put the majority of my three stat points into agility and the last one into strength, I drank a potion of healing before continuing down the corridor.

As another boar charged me, I dodged it more fluidly this time, hitting it twice before it passed by me. Reducing it health as it dispersed into blue particles.

As I continued deeper the plants seemed to increase in amount and life. Another Boar charged at me. Lashing out to cut it, my blade disintegrated before I could even scratch the beast. Swearing out loud, I reached behind my back to pull out my spare dagger before I was attacked again.

Repeating my previous move again, I stabbed my blade through its skull as it ran past and walked away as it died. Moving further on, I saw another Boar Guardian ahead. Preparing myself for another attack I moved towards it.

Eventually, I reached a ledge above a wide open cave. Looking down I could see that it looked nicer than the rest of the plant caves before. A large pond was in the top left and the rest was a mixture of flowers. Vines came down along the sides off the walls and the ceiling was covered in some sort of glowing plant which made the whole room shimmer unnaturally.

Jumping down I looked around the room, it was empty apart from a strange golden rock. Sighing I sat down on the ground with my back against the rock for a quick breather. It seems I had gone the wrong way or missed a pathway that connected with Daniels route. I hoped she was ok.

Standing up I kicked the rock, so I was surprised when it shook. Kicking it again, I jumped back as it shook and looked up in horror. The rock wasn't a rock. It was a Massive Boar.

To be precise it was a lvl 8 boss monster named _The Boar Spirit_. While I could deal with a normal Level 8 monster solo, but a boss would be near enough impossible. So I voiced my thoughts in two words.

"Oh shit!"

_Daniel (Charlie) POV_

"Oh shit!"

I can't believe this, why does god continuously seek to piss me off, I mean really, why is it always fucking spiders, always goddamn fucking GIANT spiders!

"_We must have been terribly fucking cruel to puppies in a previous life to deserve this"_

I can't agree more.

Male and Female Dungeon spiders as they were called were attacking me ever since I last was with Robert, and they just kept coming, since Robert kept the majority of the health items, I was left with running most of the time to save my twindeing supplies, not to mention the fucking fact I was struck by sticky web that made it harder to move around, and from what I know of females, they were bigger when it came to spiders, and seemed to try and bite me, which meant they were poisonous, I didn't want to try and test how poisonous so I hightailed it.

On the bright side I gained another level on the way, and three stat points that I put into Strength and Vitality, I was seriously wondering why there were so many freaking spiders tho.

When I turned a corner I met more of the buggers.

Quickly backing up, I took the other way, but found it blocked as well, too many web spitters for me to not get pinned down, and I knew the way I came was crawling with more trying to get me.

"_Trapped like a son-of-a-bitch rat you are"_

That joke has already been used.

"_And it will be the last you hear as well faggot"_

Okay, forgetting about my schizophrenia for a second, I found my escape, a large door that I had missed sitting next to me, I just jumped at it when several scuttling noises were coming closer from all sides, and shut it behind me, the lock on it disappearing when my hands touched it.

That was really goddamn close.

Sinking to the floor a bit, I took a deep breath, seriously, I will develop a severe fear of anything with eight legs after this, it will scar me so much I won't be able to smile when my little sister puts on that cute spider costume she had got for halloween next... year.

I choked back my bubbling sob and just focused on the task at hand, first, find who screamed, save them, ask on date if cute (okay, scratch that, act serious) find Robert, get the heck out of here, get rid of clumps of webbing stuck on shoes and...

…

…

Almost mechanically, I turn slowly around, and the shiver down my spine was working on overdrive as I looked at the scene, webbing, lots and lots of webbing, filling every corner of the room, so think it could be mistaken for a carpet, if it hadn't been for the giant spider eggs laying into the folds of them.

Okay, I told myself, calm down, there are no reason to panic, momma spider here right now, just-

"_Get your ass into high gear out of here and NOW!"_

But before I could try to look for an escape, I heard a muffled moan coming from the expanse of white string, I snapped towards it to see a lump that was log shaped, but I saw slight movements showing that there was a human in there, most likely the girl who screamed before.

"_Fuck, forget about it, you wouldn't have a chance with her anyway, that fat guy Jamison with the pimples gets more ass than you in highschool, so get the fuck out of here!"_

I was sickened by my inner thoughts and ignored them as I nimbley tip toed over the large spider eggs and ignoring the dry crunch under my feet as I made my way to the trapped girl.

"Can you hear me?" I whispered as quietly as I could, glancing over my shoulder to check for any dangers.

The muffled sounds from her became for erratic and I quickly shushed to keep her quiet.

"I'm going to cut you out, keep quiet, they might still be here..."

When she became still, I opened my inventory and cut slowly through the threads that bound her to the floor...

By chance, it was from the legs up.

Complete coincidence.

Taking away the carpet of threads bit by bit as I worked my way up, I tried not to stare at the figure of the woman as I unraveled her.

"_Well would you look at that, long blond hair, you're in-your-dreams girl feature"_

I tried to not flinch at the true words and took the rest off, to be greeted by a pair of mismatched eyes.

I blinked slightly, the red and blue eyes were quite a looker if I had to say, very unique, even exotic, with a slight hourglass figure, C to D Cup breasts, her face was cute, kind of full and roundish in shape, her hair was long and put into two large pig tails on either side of her head, since she was Japanese this was a surprise.

Her clothing however had my temperature rise a little, she had a kind of Gothic Maid thing going, the dress a cut above the knees and showing off her slender legs, of course it wasn't all fashion, she had small plates of armour on her elbows, stomach and chest.

If I had to guess, she seemed to be fifteen, but that might be cause of her childish clothing, maybe sixteen or something.

Realising I was googling at her face I shook my head and quietly gestured for her to slowly get up, she complied and we crouched down low and started sneaking to the other side of the room, luckily there was another door there.

"Thank you so much" she whispered to me, I looked back to see slight tears in her eyes, she must have been more scared than anything.

I nodded and we tiptoed closer to the door, but then something made me pause.

"Wait a minute..." I looked back at her, "Why did the spiders just wrap you up? Not just finish you in the corridors?"

She flinched slightly and just shrugged, I apologized for the bad choice of words and put on a thoughtful expression.

I thought about spiders, they were loners, they went out into the world and put up nests for themselves, hardly care for another.

But there are so many here, if anything the teamwork and number of them make them like a...

Hive.

And with every hive, there is a...

I craned my head to look above us, and would you believe it, there was another spider, another fucking huge spider.

"_A FUCKING HUGE, SON OF A BITCH SPIDER QUEEN!"_

And here I am, standing in her nest.

_Robert (Lucian) POV_

Diving out the way as the giant charged at me again, the room shaking as its hooves pounded the ground. A thunderous boom echoed through the room as it smashed into the cave wall, its thick skull protecting it from any damage.

I had been dodging the Boar Spirits attacks for several minutes, thinking of a solution to the situation I was currently in. I had observed that the boar was stunned for several seconds after crashing into the wall, so using this to my advantage.

Running up the side of the wall, I flipped backwards landing onto the stunned creatures back. Using my dagger I proceeded to stab it several times in the back. Watching its HP slowly decrease from my weak attacks to it, I was unaware that the Boar regained full awareness.

As it started trying to throw me off, I grasped for someway to stop myself from flying off. As it started moving erratically around the room, I stabbed my dagger into its back for a extra grip. It wasn't enough.

As I slid slowly down its back, my dagger cut a long gash along it only removing half of its first health bar. I Eventually leapt back to the floor before I fell from its back.

Waiting for it to charge again, I realised that if this creature had weak points like some normal monsters, I could have a better chance at surviving.

Looking ats hairy face and massive tusks as it face me again, I realised that stabbing it in the eyes might be a better idea, If I could get some clean strikes onto them it might do some serious damage. Thats when boar finished scraping the floor with its hoof and charged again at me.

Proceeding to do the same move I did earlier, I moved in time to see the small shockwave of the impact of hard bone meeting solid rock. Getting onto its back again, I sprinted along it until I reached its head and climbed onto its snout.

If it started to try to throw me off now, I had no hope of staying on I realised as I saw the small amount of space I had. Moving as fast as I could while staying balanced, I got as close as I could to its eye. Leaping foolishly towards it, my dagger prepared to attack, I stabbed the great beast.

With pain filled squeal the boar shook its head, trying to dislodge me. Holding onto its hair on its head, I lunged at its eye again, before being thrown off.

Looking up at its HP bar, I realised that it still had its one HP bar left.

Thats when it changed. Its tusks seemed to elongate and its muscles bulged. Its remaining eye seemed to bulge out from its socket and was all bloodshot.

All of a sudden, it rushed forward, faster than before, barely giving me time to dodge.

Unfortunately, just as I dived to the side, its tilted its head and its tusk gave me a gash on my leg, I felt myself spin from the forces inflicted b the charge and found myself lying flat on the floor.

Seeing my HP decrease all the way to the red zone, I realised that if I took one more hit I was as good as dead.

As it I tried to reach for a HP potion, I had little time to dodge to the side, barely avoiding its as it tried to gore me with its tusks again. Its single eye practically shining with hatred towards me.

If I dodged to the side, its tusks would make short work off me. Unfortunately I had little time to think as the sound of its feet furiously pounding the ground as it stampeded towards me.

Thats when I had an idea on how to finally beat this creature. I had done only half a bar damage when hitting its body, but took one and a half bars out from two hits to its eye. So, running towards the boar foolishly I prepared to go through with my plan.

Daniel (Charlie) POV

The spider struck out at me with its long legs, striking at where I once stood, as me and the blond haired girl ran in different directions as the thing towered above us.

It stood and six-possibility seven metres tall, and only its outline was visible, barely since it was pitch black and gave it a seeming invisibility in the dark cave, its legs however were shape and deadly, trying to stamp on us like a sword would stab.

Every few seconds it would choose between me or the other girl and try and stamp on us, I thrust deep into its legs with my spear and looked up to see its three health bars, with the name Nest Mother perched on top of it.

It went down a little, very little.

"SHIT!"

Wasn't I supposed to be the strong one?

Robert would get more damage than that.

"_Thats because he isn't a motherfucking pussy who is afraid to fight"_

I grit my teeth to ignore that as I rolled out of the way of another attack.

_Squish! Crack!_

I looked behind me to see that I had crushed several eggs in the nest and they were leaking out green and yellow goo.

I hurriedly wipe the gunk off me before hearing a rumbling roar.

I looked up to see the Nest Mother looming over me, looks like momma spider doesn't like omelettes.

I duck as a spray of poison erupted from above, nearly hitting me, I looked from the corner of my eye to see the blond girl hacking at the big spiders legs with a sword, by now the thing was halfway done on its first bar.

The Nest Mother then shot out a string of web towards the blond girl, wrapping around her chest and pinning her to the way, with a shriek, she hit the wall with surprise.

The spider however turned back at me and I dodged another leg, and another.

This was taking too long, so I struck again with my weapon to try and get her down, by some form of luck, I had whittled her down to the second one, but my victory was short lived as it turned its attention back to the trapped girl.

Desperately, I tried to put its attention back to be, repeatedly stabbing at its legs, but it didn't even react as it was down to half the second bar.

I saw its leg rise from the ground, aiming at the girl who struggled against her bindings, I then found the world seemed to slow, with the scene unfolding in front of me.

"_Bastard, acting the hero and freeze up when you meet a real challenge, fucking coward you are"_

But, I'm afraid.

_Same principles apply to the real world remember_

Roberts words echoed in my head as I looked forward.

"_Piss head, your weak and always will be, in the head and reality, don't make a difference"_

I grit my teeth and leap forward.

I might be weak, but I'll sure as hell try, again and again until I succeed.

I drew my arms back with my spear glowing fiercely, I then jumped as high as I could, barely getting into range of the Nest Mothers head and I thrust forward.

And again, and again, and again, and once more, a flurry of strikes pierced into the insectoid skin of where its face was and a loud screech rattled through the room as it stumbled backwards.

I took out my dagger and cut at the webs around the girl quickly, as the giant spider wasn't done yet.

"Thank you again," she said, as she looked at me, "That was amazing, you're so brave!"

I blushed at the compliment, I never got one before from such a pretty girl.

Our moment of peace ended suddenly as another screech ripped through our eardrums. We looked back to see the Nest Mother rippling and changing in front of us, its features become recognizable as its body was turning a sickly green, the fangs visible now on its face were now dripping of venom and getting sharper.

The abdomen on its back was large, but now seemed to swell and bulge and the bottom of it seemed to burst open. Several eggs and body juices fell from it and landed on the ground, after several seconds the eggs cracked and many hatchling spiders took their place as the shells disappeared in polygons.

The place seemed to pause again for a second before I just took a deep breath and readied my spear again, blondie was next to me with her sword in a tight grip.

"What's your name anyway?" I asked her,

"Akari" she answered shortly,

"Nice to meet you, I'm Charlie" I told her back, I then turned my attention back to the monster horde.

"Big ole family reunion huh?" I asked as they crawled forward, "I just have to say tho, that birthing in front of us? Was really motherfucking gross."

And then me and Akari rushed forward.

_Robert (Lucian) POV_

As I got closer to the the charging Boar Spirit, I leaped a few seconds before it hit into me. Landing on its snout, seconds before it smashed into the wall.

The impact shook me as I tried desperately to stay on the creatures hairy head. As I regained my balance, I started to shuffle along its nose towards its one good eye.

Reaching the bloodshot bulging orb, I stabbed my dagger into it. Hearing the squeal of pain, I saw the boss's only HP go down 75%.

As I prepared to stab the creature one last time to finish it off, I realised how lucky I had been. If I hadn't put my points in agility I would have been dead long before I destroyed the first bar. It should have been impossible to kill a creature like this alone at my level, as if could probably kill multiple players with one charge.

With a relieved sigh that I had survived this fight, I drew back my dagger for the final strike.

Unforintaly before I could finally kill the creature, its head jerked upwards, sending me flying into the wall. Hitting the wall, I felt my HP drop a tiny bit more, leaving me with less than 10% of my life.

As I struggled to get to my feet, I looked up at the touch of the snorting breath of the Boar Spirit on my head. Struggling up to my feet, I scrambled away towards the water.

As I prepared to jump in, I saw a long silver eel swimming under the clear water. Its length at least twice that of the Boar Spirit. Deciding to take my chances with the boar instead of some unknown monster, I turned around to see it preparing to charge again.

Coming up with a idea on the spot, I ran towards the rampaging beast as it prepared to finish me off. Before it could hit me, I dropped to the ground in a slide under it, using my dagger to cut a gash through its underbelly.

I felt the damage of me hitting the rough ground at speed cut through my health bar once again, dropping my HP by another 3%.

With a hiss at the dropping of my health, I jumped to my feet as the boar passed over me. Turning around to look at it, I saw it stumble for a few seconds before emitting a pain filled screech and then at the exact same time as my dagger, it exploded into polygons.

Breathing heavily, I looked around before quickly drinking one of my health potions.

"Im glad thats over," I mutter to myself in relief. If I had been hit by anything at the moment I would have been dead with only 2% hp remaining.

As my HP recovered I looked at the loot menu that appeared after the fight. It had dropped two items. A armor piece called the _Dusk Cloak _and a weapon called _The Soul Drinker _.

Quickly equating the new armor piece, I found it was very similar in design to my old cloak but was a dark purple with black embroidery down the side. The pattern followed the side of the cloak all the way around, the outside and up to the hood where it joined.

It had extremely interesting interesting effects, The cloak gave a 20% boost to both sprint and acrobatics and a 50% boost to hiding and a skill called stealth which I didn't have at the

moment.

The final effect I could read was that the entire cloak could change colour at will to a midnight black. This was a very useful feature for were a few more effects listed but they were all blurred out.

Putting it on, I set it to black and looked at my reflection in the water. I saw that it was the perfect size, not going past my ankles so it did not constrict my movement. Pulling the hood over my head, I looked back at my inventory for my other drop. The Soul Drinker.

It felt my eyebrow raise. Interesting. It was a bow, the only ranged weapons were in the throwing variety, daggers and throwing picks, but bows? It looked pretty basic, if it wasn't for the name I would call it a stick with a string, but it said in the description that it would _gain the strength of the souls it drank_...

That was certainly dark. Reading more I saw it said LVL 1/500. It seems the more monsters I kill the better weapon gets, I guess..Looking back at the description, I notice a small bar that was currently empty. I guess thats its XP bar.

Then I noticed an exclamation mark next to my skills, looking into it, I saw there was a Bow skill now, Strange tho, Since Kayaba didn't mention bows as a weapon in game.. For some reason instead of the blocked slots, it had been added onto the end of the list. Some sort of extra skill I guess.

Well, better not look a gift horse in the mouth they say, well, Daniel says anyway, since it was better not knowing that his high school crush was into S&M.

Yeah, he wasn't the same a week after that.

Anyway, a big problem with this weapon was the arrows. How will I get more of them.

Hopefully I could retrieve the ones I shot at enemies. Luckily the boss dropped a couple of hundred for me to start with.

Wait... shit. Daniel, she was still out there.

I quickly looked around for a way to get out. Thats when I noticed that a boulder that had been there earlier had been reduced to rubble. I guess it was there to stop people escaping the boss fight.

Thats when I heard the noise. Hundreds of hooves pounding on the stone floor. Looking up to the tunnel I had been in earlier, I saw several dozen cow sized boars pouring out off it.

Turning towards the recently opened cave, I ran.

_Daniel (Charlie) POV_

"I..."

SMASH!

"REALLY..."

SQUISH!

"HATE..."

BISH! SMACK! POW!

"SPIDERS!"

I screamed after every hit, the crowd of the buggering buggers were really starting to piss me off, Momma spider wasn't dancing around either, she was using a combination of web and acid to try and take us down. I had passed one or two health items to Akari when she was getting low. It seemed like she was more of a work-at-home player than someone who fights in the front lines.

But that didn't mean she was sloppy, she slashed and thrust into the little demon babies with vigor as we ran around the room, but I noticed she seemed to instinctively raise her left arm as if to try and ward an attack, but quickly dodged before the attack hit. I guess she must of had a shield before she lost it.

I occasionally slashed at the Nest Mother when I could, but her offspring were starting to be a nuisance, she layed at least thirty of them, and two minutes after she would lay another set when we had nearly killed them all.

Right now she only had 60% left, and it was really annoying.

"Okay you maggots with legs, I am really getting mad now!" I then used my new Flurry attack to kill five at once, then again to kill another five.

As there was only a few more left, Akari then shouted to me, "Hurry! I'll hold them off Charlie-chan, you get the big one!"

I nodded while ideally trying to remember what chan meant...

Wait, it means cute...

A hurricane of a blush nearly unfolded on my cheeks as my brain processed that.

"_Fucking virgin"_

You're one too asshole.

I shook that off and ran as fast as I could towards the Nest Mother, who was looking at her numbers and its back was in the process of creating a new batch.

"Oh no you don't!"

I appeared next to her leg and swung my spear sideways, the side of the point catching at the parts of her legs her foot came right off her body.

A vile shriek erupted again, briefly seeming to stop the eggs she attempted to lay, I took the advantage as I ran to the next one and slashed that as well.

With two of its eight legs out of commision, the Momma spider tried to attack me with a web and acid combo, both caught me on the shoulder but I moved on regardless of the burning acid ticking away my health slightly and I cut the third leg away.

The thing was starting to unbalance now, trying to use the stumps of its legs as much as she could, but slipping from the green blood pouring out of them, cutting number four left her with two on either side now, so it was time to finish this.

I made it to the last legs on her left side, and with my spear seemingly filled with power again, I rotated in a circle, the legs didn't cut all the way like I expected, but they were knocked back easily.

With only one side being supported, the giant fell to the ground with a crash and several pops of the spider eggs getting destroyed, amazingly, the thing was still trying to get up, erratically as it struggled from the ground, not slowing as several more eggs were destroyed from upside down.

"Guess Momma dear isn't the best mother in the world" I taunted the giant arachnid as it kicked and screamed.

Taking this as the time for a finishing one liner, I jumped as high as I could in the air above the Nest Mother. It became nearly instantly mute from its tirade as I came into its view.

I took my spear and had the sharp tip facing downwards, the skill charge was filling the spearhead again as gravity took hold and it plunged me into the deep soft skin from under the abdomen of the creature. I unfortunately broke the skin as well, sinking up to my waist. The spider screamed and shrieked in pain as I had dug deep into it, impaling it on the ground.

"This is a final fuck you!" I shouted it to you, "Right in the egg sack!"

One final twist with my weapon drove me even deeper up to my breasts, it gave one final screech before stopped, and slumped to the ground, the familiar light filled my vision again as the polygons of data disappeared in the air. I felt the resistance between me and the ground fade and I spread out my legs quickly to land on the web and blood green covered floor.

And I was covered in green blood as well.

Ewwww.

"That...was..."

I turned to see Akari standing next to me,

"SO COOL!" she shouted, and then hugged me in a tight grip, I felt myself blush again as I felt her definite D-Cup pressing against me.

"_You really need to get laid"_

SHUT UP! I'm only seventeen!

"_Yet you blush like a pre-teen"_

Godaman pervert.

"_Your one to talk fucktard"_

I snapped out of my inner argument when she let go of me.

"Thank you, again, I don't know what would have happened to me if you didn't come along" her smile was nearly cute enough to cause my heart to skip as I looked at it.

"Uh...well i-it was no problem at all!" I said quickly in an embarrassed tone, "I mean, a-anyone could have done it"

"But you did" Akari said, "And I am very grateful"

She then moved her face closer to mine and...

Kissed my cheek...

…

…

"Charlie-chan?"

SYSTEM REBOOT NEEDED/SYSTEM REBOOT NEEDED

"Huh?" I asked, then looked back at her, "O-oh, n-nothings wrong at a-all"

She giggled at my stammering, when people laughed at my shy nature around girls as a joke, I was always ticked off, but I just felt really happy right now as I was talking to a cute girl.

A REALLY cute girl.

And she isn't backing away, well, of course I am in an avatar but thats beside the point.

"Well, um, I guess we better get out of here" I said quickly, I then realised that I must of got a lot of experience for killing all those little spiders and the Momma one as well, so I checked my menu, sure enough, it now said I was level 7.

Yes!

Curiously, I checked the loot table from the kill, _Gauntlets of the Final Stand _and _Arachnid Fang Spear_.

Opening my inventory to look at the spear, a weapon that would set me back due to no slash damage that can be done with the blunt edge, but it is stronger and has a chance to poison at least 10% with each hit. It was a long stick with patterns carved in it of several spiders, a fang stood on the top, tied down on it, the size of my forearm and all greenish.

Useful I guess, I'm not one to wait out my enemy to die tho.

I then pulled up the gauntlets, they fit around my wrist tightly and crawled up my arm loosely, it was a kind of a grey iron plate material with rusty bolts screwed into the top and a faded pattern engraved on the outside of a pair of wings stretching out into a circle with a half a diamond in the centre, I had to squint to make it out however.

From the description, it says that if I go below 20% health, my strength points would double, but couldn't go past than the maximum strength, I don't know why they had to make that clear however. A dangerous risk to take.

But hey, double my strength? That would be a good way to end a match.

Talking about health, I found that I was in fact at 16% of it, I guess I did feel kind of lighter than usual...

But before I could continue with my thought process, Akari interrupts it.

"What's that sound?"

I look at her and tilt my head to listen, scuttling, lots of scuttling.

I whip my head around to see hundreds of spiders, and lining up from the door on one side of the wall, I gulped slightly at the sight, sure we fought hoards of spiders from the boss battle, but those were level ones, this guys and a lot more power instead of biting.

As I readied myself for another fight, I felt sudden tremors under my feet, and the sound of hoofs on stone, I looked the other way to the door on the other side of the room and through the door came out Robert, with a new cloak maybe, but it was still him.

I felt a grin on my face, "Hey! Its good to see-"

I was cut off however as he ran forward and to our position and the doors crashed open to reveal several boars the size of cows charging in, they stopped after they got closer.

I blinked, and looked between the eight and four legged monsters on either side.

"_This was not the sandwich you were expecting was it?"_

Not the time.

I then turned to Robert, "What the fuck did you do?"

He glanced at me before looking around for an escape route, "I wouldn't talk if I was you, those spiders aren't my fault"

"Yeah, but they just found me, I didn't bring them here!"

"Did you defeat a giant spider or something?"

"Uhhh, yeah?"

"Yeah, same thing happened to me, they seem to attract a bunch of their larger children after they are defeated. These ones chased me for a while to this location"

He then noticed Akari, "Oh, pleased to meet you, I am this idiots friend"

"I am NOT an idiot! And I just defeated a giant spider! Show some respect!"

"Heh, I had a Giant boar"

"Those things are easy to kill"

"It was like, eight meters long and five meters wide"

"Mine was seven meters tall with one big ass"

"Really? What level?"

"Seven!"

"Eight!"

"Mine spewed little devil mini spiders!"

"Mine looked like it was on the pig version of steroids!"

"PLEASE!" shouted Akari, we looked at her "Is this really the time?"

"Yes" we both answered together, she blinked.

"Okay, carry on"

"Okay, let me tell you something-" I begin to say, but I was interrupted by the sudden end of whatever was keeping the spiders and boars moving, as they both charged to the centre of the room.

Just as we prepared ourselves for the worse, a roaring sound was heard through the caves, and the ground shook, stopping the spiders and boars from advancing slightly, and the wall behind us suddenly collapsed.

We looked at the wreckage and saw another tunnel revealed from behind it.

Not wishing to question whatever the roar was, we all ran towards the new exit, while the enemies that tried to catch us in a crossfire slammed into each other from behind.

I glanced back to see both sides actually fighting against each other, with the spiders climbing on the boars and biting them while the boars trampled the spiders to the ground, but I didn't dwell on that as we kept going down the dark corridor.

We turned the next corner to be greeted by a brilliant light.

"Its the way out!" shouted Akari from in front of me, damn, she can run faster than me, I need to get this sprint skill up-

What was that?

I looked behind me again.

"FUCK! STEP ON IT!"

I ran even faster as a giant torrent of water was flooding the way behind us, on instinct I grabbed Akari but not Robert as he could run faster. I kept on it until the light of outside washed over us and I made a ninety degree turn to the right of the opening.

And from the corner of my eye, I swear I saw something long, scaly and slimy in the water, but I didn't see much more as the rocks above the cave gave way and sealed the opening with a crash. Dust exploded from the area and I was left on the ground coughing.

Damn, at least I had a...soft...fall?

I looked down to see I was on top of Akari, also coughing slightly from the dust, and I was on top of her... and my hand... was...on...

"_SPIDEY SENSE TINGLING"_

FUCKING BAD JOKE!

I heeded the advice however and jumped back before she could gain her senses, ignoring the words and images running into my head.

"_Soft and subtle, having a nice feel?"_

Seriously, that is getting old

I held out my hand for her to grasp and we both got up, I turned to look at where Robert went and saw him come out from the bushes he must have fallen in, I tried not to outright laugh at the ridiculous flower that was perched on his head from wherever in the undergrowth he picked it up.

I couldn't not smile however.

"Well, that was not the training experience I was expecting" he said to me as he looked at the destruction "Kind of a disappointment really"

"Disappointment?" I asked him with a look that questioned his sanity, "We got attacked by rats, boars, spiders, a daddie giant boar and a fucking huge momma spider I may add and you think it is a disappointment?"

"Yes, exactly summing it up"

I face palmed,

"But Charlie-chan got that cool spear and pair of gauntlets didn't she?" asked Akari who joined the conversation,

Robert took a moment to look at my equipment, as I did with his cloak and-

"Wait, I thought you said there wasn't any ranged weapons except throwing daggers"

He lifting his bow, which looked more like a stick with string to be honest, and showed it to us.

"Yeah, I got it and the cloak from the Boar Spirit as it was called, it looks weak now, but it says that it will get stronger the more I use it, I don't know what the Bow skill is exactly, except that it lets me handle this"

"A self leveling weapon?" asks Akari as she looks at the bow, "That is really cool, wait, you told Charlie-chan that there were no ranged weapons so"

She then pointed her finger at him dramatically, "You're a Beta tester!"

We sweatdrop at the random accusation.

"Yes, I am" he replies back with slight amusement, his head turned to me,

*Charlie-chan?* he mouthed the question to me,

*Fuck you* I mouthed back,

"So, what is it like, a floor up?" she asked, with very cute look of attention.

"_Where the hell did that come from?"_

Okay I admit, I am smitten with her cuteness.

"_Fucking pussy"_

Imaginary voice.

"Flat topped mountains, lots and lots of mountains, not the place that you would like to fall from. There is a savannah and a wasteland, not a very nice place for lower levels though."

He gave me a sly look, I just mouthed *fuck you* again before he turned back to Akari,

"Who are you anyway" he asked her,

She grinned, "Well, I'm Akari, the Blacksmith of the... Dandy Duo..."

She then pulled up short as her face then fell from her smile, I had the sudden urge to hug her,

"_WARNING, WARNING, we got a Dyke here!"_

SHUT UP! THIS IS SERIOUS!

"I guess, you used to be with someone?"

She nodded her head slightly, looking at the ground.

Ok, fuck it.

I put my arms around her in a hug as she made throaty sobs and cries into my shoulder, Robert stood by, looking slightly awkward.

I shooed him with my head and he complied quickly, I didn't try to comment that he was just watching from behind a tree.

After a few minutes she regained her composure and looked at me with red eyes.

"So... who was he?" it was definitely a he, you would be sad for a friend, but you would be this depressed for a lover.

"He... his name was Daiko-kun, he is... was *sniff* my childhood friend" she took a shuddering breath.

"We... bought SAO together, it seemed like so much fun... but... then Kayaba announced the...death game and..."

I patted her back.

"Thank you" she intoned, "I was so depressed, but, Daiko-kun always kept me going, so much support...*sniff* and, even if it was only two weeks... I think I began to feel for him"

Then her face scrunched up, "Then we found this dungeon, we beat the bear and we... went inside... and we saw so many monsters... they surrounded us... and Daiko-"

"Shhh Shhh, its okay, its okay," it was weird, I was never the comforting sort, but I guess we fall into the role when needed, as I hugged her tightly, I felt her go limp in my arms.

With slight alarm, I quickly checked her. She was asleep.

I breathed a sigh of relief,

"She must of fallen unconscious after everything" I turned my head to see Robert walking towards us, "I think we should drop her off at the next town and get moving"

I frowned at him, "Wait a second, you aren't actually thinking of just leaving her alone are you?"

He looked at me with a steely gaze, "We already have enough trouble ourselves, scraping up experience, surviving, are you prepared to take the responsibility of protecting her?"

I looked at Akari's peaceful face and red rimmed eyes as she slumbered in my arms, and then I looked at Robert with determination.

"Yes I can"

He stays still for a second, then nods before walking towards the forest with a slight smile,

"Well, hurry up then, before I leave you two lovebirds behind, your trouble enough by yourself"

I blushed despite myself at the lovebirds comment,

"_Hit second base and you still turn red like this?"_

I-SHUT UP!

I quickly followed after the my cloaked friend with Akari in my arms, easily holding her, as we made our way back to town.


	3. Chapter 2: Cream and Sugar?

**Chapter 3: Cream and Sugar?**

**December 1st 2022**

_Daniel (Charlie) POV_

"STAY STILL YOU BLOATED BLACK AND WHITE PATCHWORK BOVINE!" I swung my spear at the stupid cow again and again hoping to land a hit, the freaking thing was getting on my last nerve, out of all the stupid, annoying, tiring enemies we had to face for a month, I never thought a COW would be the one that topped the list.

Yes, and it has been two weeks since the incident at the dungeon, we gave info around to the rest of the players about how it was now a experience ground of lots of spiders and boars to kill, but we got back that the place was sealed because of the cave-in, so no more exploring there for a while.

Another thing that has surfaced in the community since the death games started was the general hate of the Beta-Testers, which spelt bad news for Robert, this all happened because nearly all of them left the general population to gain levels by themselves, I knew it was unfair to them all, in fact, it was a topic of debate between me a Robert, it nearly escalated to argument when he pointed out that it would have been impossible to split the monsters experience 10 000 different ways easily, and even then, we would be too weak, besides, what could one small group do to change everything?

I felt helpless at that aspect.

We bounced from quest to meaningless quest, to get a small boost in Exp for us every time, it wasn't the easiest life, but we got by.

Oh, and Akari had become part of our group, she was depressed about Daiko during the first few days, but we managed to pull her out of her funk, whenever it was Robert and my 'friendly' arguments, or that she has a cheery disposition originally, maybe both, but she pulled through at least.

I got her a new shield to fit her fighting style as soon as possible, with my own money, most guys would get chocolate or flowers, me? I got a hunk of curved metal that stops people from getting impaled, she seemed much happier with mine tho.

She was also a beginner blacksmith, which was interesting considering she also fights, it must be hard juggling two skills like that, right now she can only make a few cheap items that don't do that much, but she has been getting better.

And… our relationship… thats an interesting subject, I had to fervently remind myself that I was a girl in her eyes, as her constant clinging and hugging left me flustered and stammering, I never saw girls in my town so open before… were all girls like this with each other? Either way, I had then and there decided to swear off women for the rest of my time in this place, when it was a casual game, I would have flirted without shame, but now… I don't know, I guess I really have to worry about reputation now, but still, Akari was so… hug happy, that I had shown the restraint of a saint on several occasions, not to mention the fact we would _share _a room whenever we rested… yeah, I am saint material.

To the utter enjoyment of Inner-Me, which I had named recently, I was pretty much the walking, talking teddy bear which she snuggled with, I couldn't get to sleep for hours because of Inner-me's comments… and that I was resisting the urge to hug Akari as well.

Don't get me wrong, I don't like taking advantage of the situation, but me and Robert made a pact of sorts, to not reveal I latched onto the game as an extra player, that also meant not saying I was really a guy, its not really about the fact we hacked into the game, the virtual terrorist mass kidnapping brings that to zero fucks given.

But, its more to the fact of people having, prejudices lately, Betas are enemy number one, who knows what a hacker could yield on the 'burn the witch' meter to a solid 10.

So, ixnay on the hackay, as we say, Akari doesn't know of course, or she would have never touched me even with a ten foot pole.

"_She wouldn't even look in your direction lamebrain"_

Who is worse, the stupid one, or the voice living in their head?

"_..."_

Yeah, thought so.

Anyway, back to the current time, Robert remembered this quest when I questioned the food quality in the SAO world, more precisely, splitting out the bland loaf after having one to many.

It came to the topic of a quest called _Revenge of the Cows_, to get a few pots of cream to use, basically, a farmer, that was VERY cruel to his cattle, then had the tables turned against him when all of his cows decided to trample everything in sight, our mission was to simple, kill the cows, but what Robert forgot was that it was draining, VERY draining, not dangerous, they hardly took any health off, but they could dodge like a son of a bi-

**SMACK!**

"OW! OKAY, THATS IT, BE PREPARED TO GET SKEWERED!"

"Don't worry Charlie-chan, you can do it!"

Robert and Akari were watching at the sidelines, we decided to have shifts in this business to make it go quicker, but they seemed so short, and the working was so long despite us having the same fifteen minute shifts.

"Watch it Charlie, your health is getting low" Robert said in a bored voice from where he lay in the grass.

"SHOW SOME MORE CONCERN WOULD YOU!" I finally got so angry that I swung my spear in an arc and smacked the bitch of a bovine across the field, before it disappeared into light.

Another thing, I had become quite the powerhouse when I got those _Gauntlets of the Final Stand, _I became the Tank of the group basically, ploughing through enemies without worry, well, as long as I have the occasional health potion of course.

The twenty percent was a bother, but as my health went down slower because of my high defense, I didn't have to worry about it too much, just as long as I remember to be careful.

I then heard a ringing sound, showing the end of the quest.

"Freaking finally" I mutter as I collapsed to the ground.

"Charlie-chan! Are you okay?" I looked to see Akari leaning over me in concern.

"I'm fine, just hungry"

I looked at the NPC farmer who appeared to give us our reward, with the stereotypical straw in the mouth and straw hat getup.

"Why thank ye kindly" he then took waved his hands around, "Take this more ye troubles!"

The item screen appeared before each of us, looking at mine, I had been given some Col, a little Exp, and two pots of cream, woo hoo.

But seriously.

"Please tell me there's more" I asked Robert.

"Sorry, two pots each, and this quest isn't really challenging, so the other rewards is small too" He didn't look that bothered at all.

"_Prick"_

For once, I agree.

I was about to launch into an argument, when a sudden cry of joy was heard.

"I just leveled up!" Akari shouted, I looked over to see her jumping with joy, jumping…

Yep, saint material.

Sure enough, her level had just increased to 7, me and Robert were at 8 and 9 ourselves, I was getting tired of being a level behind all the time, maybe he goes out to kill monsters while me and Akari are asleep.

I forgot about my anger and just smiled at the happy girl, whenever I got angry, it would take a good shouting to get it out of my system, but she always seemed to make it wash away nearly.

"Good work Akari, uh... San" Just remembering the horrific thing, these titles took getting used to, I had to make it seem I was japanese.

She pouted, "I thought I told you to stop calling me San Charlie-Chan!"

I heard Robert snigger next to me, he was having a hoot at my situation, he even recently predicted I would become a drag-queen after this was all over.

Freaking Bastard.

"Anyway, I'm going into town to trade a bit in the market, I'll meet you back at the inn!" she then ran across the field and out of sight over the rise.

Leaving me and Robert to ourselves.

"So… when are you going to ask her out?"

I gag.

"What!?" I look at him like he is insane.

"Why not? She's practically your dream girl, just wrap yourself in ribbons at Christmas coming up and say 'I'm yours' and you got her" the shit-eating grin was present.

I blush at the imagery, "I thought you said not to tell anyone about my… condition?"

"I didn't say you have to"

"Look, you don't get it, on one hand, she could be only into guys and this conversation is meaningless, and on the other hand she is into girls, which will guilt trip if I date her until I do a _Hari-Kiri _Mortal Kombat style"

"What if shes Bi?"

This time I choked.

"You… you bastard" I mutter, "Look, I know I am optimistic when I say I am going to become dateless for the rest of the time we are here, but I am damn well NOT going to do it with her, her freaking love interest died man!"

He gave me a look, "I don't know Daniel, you have never had a relationship since I've known you, only crushes that pass by or end badly for three years, this might be good for you"

"And then what? After this is all over she will accept I was lying about everything about me? No way in hell, even telling her now is a risky, with her being so reliant on us"

"It will only get worse as you wait"

"Well wait on I shall, after this is all done, Charlie won't exist, its better that way"

"I'm trying to see the cons, really I am, all I have is possible rejection" Robert looked at me with his 'I won't drop the subject' face.

"Yeah, do you possibly remember all the times she has hugged me, slept in the same room as me and damn well nearly stripped while I was still there?"

I waved my hand in a dismissive way, "That last one was accident mostly and she just shifted into the clothes she already had on her person, anyway, too many times like that to count, she would turn me into road kill"

"And what if she had feelings?" he asked with genuine curiosity,

I chuckled humorlessly, "I'm the kind of guy that has crushes, not the guy crushed on, especially as a girl here and a girl like that"

I started walking away.

"You never answered the question" Robert intoned behind me,

I paused, before I continued walking to the inn, "I'll turn her down"

Saint material…

_Robert (Lucian) POV_

He was really beating himself up about it, it was so sad, if it were a normal game, he would have became a flirt for the ages, just to joke around, but here, he has closed off part of his personality, not to get close to people that way.

This gender crisis will fling him through a loop.

I never thought that playing match-maker was that interesting, more to the act of saying 'I know this girl you would like' kind of way, but I think I am going to make it a goal to get him to date at least one girl while we are here.

And tease him relentlessly afterwards.

I then turned my attention to another matter, the meeting

It was spread over floor one that a meeting was to take place, on the issue of the floor boss room, in the next town over there will be one held, we are currently high up on the level count, higher than most are, so we would be a good asset to the fight, but…

Should we get involved? Daniel would probably shout 'Hell Yeah' and do it, but really, if we let others just do the big things, while we just get levels to survive, we could get out of this place without being in real danger.

Yet again, Daniel wouldn't feel right to sit still with everything going on.

I breath out in exhaustion, I hate making the tough choices, I made the smart ones sure, but this is getting heavy.

I look at the paper invitation, many were placed around the first floor to get as many people to the meeting as possible, so, Daniel will find out sooner or later anyway, and he will likely jump at it.

I look up at the sky, it being so realistic made me angry, all of it was pixels and data, all made by a madman who made children into adults through this ordeal.

I then decided, if Daniel finds out about it, go with the flow, if he doesn't, don't mention it, so it won't be our problem in the first place.

I felt a sense of passing guilt at holding information from him in a way, but I shook it off, its the same thing parents do when they tell their kids a white lie so they won't be hurt.

It isn't cruel, it's necessary.

**A Few Hours Later**

Of course, children would not be a nosy as a eavesdropping guy like Daniel.

Barely twenty minutes after I got back, Daniel comes in like a hurricane, saying he had heard a conversation about the meeting, naturally, he wanted to do his part.

And so, we packed up everything, went out of town and made our way towards the town where the meeting was to be held, Tolbana.

As we walk down the road to our destination, I look sideways at Akari, who was keeping a steady pace with me, occasionally smiling in Daniel's direction.

Ironic how the only girl that shows interest in him he doesn't go for, yet again, I might be looking too deeply into this.

Daniel himself was a bit of the way in front of us, eager to get to the town, as I recall, he always liked simulations that made things into the real deal, NerveGear was the ultimate role-play, no doubt he would have wasted days on it if he had the choice normally.

I decide to use the opportunity to speak with the blacksmith of our group.

"So, you certainly warmed up to Charlie quickly" I was really curious in what she found so appealing about him, sure, he's a nice guy, but not good on first impressions with girls.

She jumped a bit at my attempt at conversation, and turned to me.

"Well... I guess I am just that kind of person, I made friends easily back in real life, mostly because I was, um... enthusiastic"

She blushed a bit at this, looks like it was more pushy than enthusiastic.

"Well, he- SHE'S a good person," I quickly caught myself from the slip, "You chose a good person to be your friend"

She looked at me with a curious expression, "So how do you know Charlie-Chan anyway Lucian-San?"

My mind went black a little, me and Daniel didn't make a cover story for who we are to each other, and I don't think 'We are buddies over videochat' is really believable, especially over countries and a girl who is into video games, they're as rare as anything.

In slight panic, I said the first thing that came to mind.

"Uh… we used to date"

Her curious face suddenly turned blank, and alternated between looking at Daniel's back, oblivious to the conversation, and my face, which I was controlling the urge not to twitch.

"Uh… you are?" she asked in an unsure tone, and also confused at the concept of the idea, right as she should be.

"Not anymore, out personality's crashed and so we just became friends with the same interests" I gestured to the scenery, acting indifferent to the bullshit I was spewing as I recited something I heard from a relationship blog I read in passing.

"Well… I wouldn't have guessed, I mean, you guys are kind of… competitive"

"One of the reasons we are friends now" I half-lied, it was rivalry that actually made us get to know each other, when he and I first met, it was when he was trying to hack my computer, and I initiated a counter attack, a twenty minute cyber battle turned into a regular chit-chat over the video camera.

She glanced back at Daniel, "So… is Charlie-chan in a relationship now?"

She didn't look jealous or anything, so it must have been an innocent question.

"No, but she had a lot of crushes in her life since I've, uh, broken up with her. She's never successful tho"

She looked at me surprised, "Eh?! Charlie-chan is so cute! How could she not get another date after you?"

I chuckled, if I told her everything, we could write a book on it.

"Well, I like to think its bad luck, and lots of it, I mean, there was this one girl who was the equivalent of a Yandere and-"

"Girl?" Akari questioned, I froze.

_SHIT!_

"Uh… I mean… guy, yeah, I meant that, slip of the tongue" I laughed nervously as she looked at me with a blank stare.

Slowly, her eyes widened in realisation and her head snapped forward, fixing on Daniel.

Well, is this good or bad?

…

I'm going to label it entertaining and move on.

_Daniel (Charlie) POV_

Why do I have the sudden urge to strangle Robert right now?

I looked behind me, to see Robert looking awkward, and a Akari staring at me, who then quickly looked away with a noticeable blush.

…

Now I have the urge to burn him and stomp on the ashes.

"_Somebody's jealous"_

Not really jealous, more like… yeah, I'm jealous.

"_Huh?"_

Partially with Akari, but mostly because he could actually date here…

He had more freedom that way.

I turned back to look forward again, the boss meeting was something different, we were practically bottom feeders with how we had been going, so when I heard about it, I thought it would be a big help.

I had done a lot of thinking, if we brought up our rep, and got more people to know about us, we could get a better life, with connections comes benifits, if we get on the good side of the right people here, if could help in the long run, as well as breaking the 'players-block' that has been going on so far, it could help with the morale issues that are common as well.

I wasn't worried for one second, I mean, I took on a freaking _spider queen _alone, and still standing I may add, so this will be cake.

I hope.


End file.
